Seasons Change

Every year we go through 4 seasons. Every year they repeat their cycle. God ordained it that way. It has been illustrated in the humans life that we too have our seasons. The young years are referred to the spring of life. The teen & collegiate years are our summer. The family years are our Autumn. And finally our end of life is called winter where life ceases to have life. Winter in many writings and speeches refer to death. So the seasons have meaning in the length of life. But we have now also extended that meaning into Company life or our Job career. Also Ministry can have seasons.

It is this last point that I want to talk about. Ministerial seasons; we all have our 4 seasons of kinds of life. There are many referances to seasons in the Bible.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; Daniel 2:21

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”Genesis 8:22

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. Acts 1:7

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:3

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. Matthew 24:32

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ...Matthew 24:1-51

Sometimes a church goes though winter seasons where the chaff die or are blown away. Then there will come the Spring again and new life will spring into the life of the church with much fruit to our Saviors glory.

I feel in my heart that the season of this world is coming to a great winter especially, for Israel. There are indications of disturbances in the air. The cold polar air is breathing down on the neck of Israel and the warm relations with neighboring nations has grown cold and bitter. There is the smell of death in the air. A stillness that something is about to happen. A storm is rolling in that will plunge the world into great darkness and terror. The ice of this winter will freeze economies and cultures and peoples. There will be great fear and trembling on the Earth as Jesus foretold in Luke 21. The Book of Revelation speaks of this winter as a time when food prices hit all time highs that even the throw away type products will be auctioned for premium prices.

I also believe that in my personal ministry time I have a winter coming. A time to end the activities and then to wait for spring again. We are looking down the road for a time when I will need a heart transplant. This urgency has placed on me a countdown to that time. I must run the race as Paul did and not give up for the excellency of Christ. I have two kids with the same heart disease who went down this same road. One was a couple of years another was a few more than that. So how much time do I have? Don't know. But I know that when the process of sliding into winter comes it is a fast one. Within a few days of playing and happy times and enjoying my kids there comes that day when they don't look good at all. Everyone knows it too. The dreaded Dr. appointment yielded the rush to ICU and then months waiting and watching as my children neared death. I too will walk this road they walked before me. The Lord graciously took one home and the Lord graciously gave the other a transplant. I too ask the Father for his grace what ever that may be it will be the best thing in his plan of events. Like Paul in some ways. If I remain on it means I continue in the faith and proclaim the gospel of Christ. If I am to be in heaven then that is glorious in itself. I grieve for my family whom I will miss and they me.

Look up everyone your redemption draws near... that is Jesus